Our shared understanding: a circular economy in the built environment

We need to transition to a circular economy if we are to solve our global systemic challenges: climate change mitigation and adaption, biodiversity loss and social equity. We won’t hit our net zero targets if we don’t.

TransFIRe researchers from the University of Leeds recently contributed to “Our Shared Understanding”, a report put together by a panel of world-leading experts to explore the core concepts that inform the transition to a circular economy.   By holding these principles in common we can align policies, strategies and initiatives, enabling the built environment industries to work together across the globe to work together towards a common goal, with coordinated action.

This report was launched at the World Circular Economy Forum 2023 and is aimed at policymakers, business leaders and future leaders in the built environment – both circular economy experts and non-experts. The launch event can be watched here.

The call to action is for us now to pull together to make a circular economy in the built environment become mainstream. This requires the industries that serve the built environment to embrace circular economy principles. It will also require the community of circular economy specialists to recognise the distinctive characteristics of the built environment. Particularly, this entails improving outcomes for people and nature through the optimal use of assets and systems. Above all, it means aligning policies, strategies and actions to achieve this.

The shift towards circularity also cannot be achieved by individual organisations acting alone, nor if organisations pull in different directions. We need to develop a shared ‘theory of change’ that recognises how the interventions we collectively make affect the performance of built and natural systems, and how that in turn influences the outcomes we seek.

Further information on the Who, What, Why, How can be found on the website here.